South Carolina Facts

Fast Facts

Population:

4,147,152

Capital:

Columbia; 117,394

Area:

32,020 square miles (82,932 square kilometers)

Per Capita Income:

U.S. $25,395

Date Statehood Achieved:

May 23, 1788

Flag

Before 1860, rice, indigo, and cotton cultivated by a large slave population enriched tidewater planters. Shattered by the Civil War, which raged from 1861-65, South Carolina came to depend on textile goods and tobacco. Historic Charleston and many nearby antebellum plantations evoke the Old South. Today, retirement communities and resorts such as Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head line the fast-developing seacoast.

Related Features

Don’t be fooled by appearances—although grandiose architecture and a sense of old southern aristocracy abound in Charleston, South Carolina, this city plays host to many options that won’t cost you a penny.